Candy Wings
by Ahti
Summary: Lucifer gets tired of Gabriel running around everywhere so decides to give him a flying lesson- although it's not exactly the kind Gabriel was hoping for. Set in Heaven with fledgling!Gabriel. No extra chapters, just a little ficlet I lost sleep over until I decided to write it!


Lucifer rolled his eyes. He tried to seem exasperated at the young archangel's antics, but as always a smile pushed its way through the layers of pretense to settle on his face. The older couldn't do much but watch his brother waste his energy on running and playing small tricks with what little powers he had- it was adorable, truly, but Lucifer wouldn't like to let his 'tough' big brother cover slip by letting Gabriel know that. So he leaned back, smirk continuing to tug on the corners of his mouth as his eyes lazily trailed Gabriel's mad dash around the Garden. It was a good exercise, trying to keep up with him. And hopefully it would tire the archangel out before long; if he was lucky. Sometimes Gabriel could play games for days on end (that not being an exaggeration) and sometimes he would collapse into Lucifer's waiting arms after a matter of minutes, having ingested far too much candy for his own good. This particular time seemed to be the former. Suppressing a sigh, he waited another good hour before deciding enough was enough. The next time his younger brother darted past him a single pale hand shot out and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, lifting a now rather dazed looking Gabriel to stare at him.

Honey-coated eyes stared right back at the cool blue ones, large and round, filled with the innocence of a child. "Uh, Lucy.." Confusion clouded those round eyes for a few moments until Lucifer explained- then they were filled with distress at his words.

"You're gonna waste that energy on something better than this, Gabe. Let's go flying."  
"But.. I dunno how! My wings are too small, Dad himself told me I was too young-" The other archangel's hand clamped over his mouth, silencing the protests immediately. "It sounds much better when you don't talk, brother." Lucifer sighed and took the hand off, shifting it to wrap around part of his sibling's waist. He moved his other hand to the other side and turned Gabriel away from him: all the while, Gabriel had been squirming and trying to wriggle his way out of his older brother's arms. All to no avail."Quit struggling," Lucifer said, but he sounded almost amused at the youngster's attempts to break free. "Don't you wanna learn how to fly?"  
"Course I do, Luci! But not while I know I'm just gonna fall flat on my face!" He whined and this just caused the other Archangel to laugh out loud. Had he been this afraid when he was first going to use his wings? Lucifer liked to think he wasn't, but knew Michael would be quick to correct him. He didn't want to be reminded of the incident with the trees again.

By this time, they were at the edge of the Garden. They say Heaven stretches on forever- and in a way, it does. But angels needed a way to navigate to Earth, and so there were certain places where there seemed to be an edge. Lucifer knew all of them. Gabriel's eyes widened to an impossible size and he squealed, his efforts to get out of his older brother's grip becoming ever more frantic. "Lulu, please! I don't wanna!" Lucifer gritted his teeth at the nickname but said nothing; soon enough, he'd get his revenge. He leant forward, hanging the little fledgling over the edge so that he could see the planet of the humans. Such a long way away. Gabriel wouldn't survive the fall, if this didn't work. That thought made Lucifer hesitate, but he squared his shoulders and swung his arms back.

"One..." The young archangel screamed again, thumping his tiny fists on his elder brother's unrelenting arms. "Please, Lucy! I'm gonna fall!"  
"Two..." _You better get ready for lift off, Gabe._ Lucifer willed the thought into his brother's head and, after a few moments, was relieved when he felt the fledgling relax a little. At least he could do this knowing the kid had a chance.  
"Three!" It happened in but s few moments. Lucifer's arms swung forward and when the momentum was best, launched Gabriel into the air. His limbs were flailing, hands trying to grab something that wasn't there; and for a few precious moments he was sailing in the clear blue sky.

Then he started to fall.

The scream echoed throughout all of Heaven, one that most angels recognized as distinctly Gabriel's. Some of them moved to the edge to watch, worry plastered across their delicate features. But they backed off at a single glare from the Archangel Lucifer. Gabriel looked up, saw the familiar landscape of the Garden fall away from view. He looked down. This Earth was growing worryingly close. With a sense of impending doom the fledgling finally tensed his shoulders, concentrating on nothing but his wings. It took a lot out of him, but eventually six magnificent wings stretched away from his tiny body, large enough to engulf the tiny archangel. Golden feathers quivered and muscles tensed in preparation. But it didn't seem to be working.

Gabriel let out a final screech and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear nothing but the wind whistling in his ears, and could feel a growing heat as he gained speed. And suddenly, he felt... as if he had hit water and gone under. Was that what had happened? Or was the final splat really that painless? When the fledgling hesitantly opened his eyes, it turned out to be neither. A gasp escaped his lungs as he realized: Lucifer was right! He could do it!

The archangel was hovering, wings beating every so often. The sound of it calmed him down. Now that he wasn't dying, Gabriel could afford another look upwards- Heaven wasn't too far away. He could make it back without getting too exhausted. He really should go back so that they knew he hadn't Fallen, but... that could wait. He had a sky to explore.


End file.
